The present invention relates generally to a portable system for transporting fluids from a source of purified water or dialysate to individual dialysis machines in a dialysis clinic.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that present systems used for fluid delivery to dialysis machines in dialysis clinic pose problems due to limited space and incidence of bacterial contamination. Furthermore, these systems are installed as permanent fixtures, making them expensive to install, expensive to disinfect, expensive to repair, and expensive to replace. Presently used systems installed as permanent fixtures physically depreciate over time, without the tax advantage of financial depreciation allowed for non-permanent equipment.
The prior art systems provide fluids from a fixed water treatment plant in one part of a building to the dialysis machines in another room. This distance requires that long xe2x80x9crunsxe2x80x9d be used to transport fluids from the water treatment facility to the dialysis machines. This means that the prior art systems use large runs of piping.
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that bacterial contamination is a common problem in presently available systems. Standard plumbing design and polyvinyl chloride pipes are commonly used. The use of PVC piping and solvent welding methods of joining and fabrication of existing fluid delivery systems results in the creation of cavities which cannot adequately be disinfected by conventional clean in place procedures used by dialysis clinics.
It will be further appreciated that there is a broad range of PVC mixtures utilizing a variety of stabilizers and plasticizers which over time leach into the fluid stream, and that the interior pipe surface becomes pitted and more conducive to trapping bacteria and supporting bacterial growth.
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that present systems require a significant amount of space, restricting mobility within a dialysis clinic and making the use of more heat-resistant yet expensive tubing, such as polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon(copyright)) tubing cost prohibitive. Instead the predominant current practice for dialysate distribution piping makes use of chemical clean in place disinfection in materials (e.g. PVC) which are incompatible with heat disinfection. Furthermore, present systems are piped in permanent structures; chaises or bulky consoles that do not permit easy access, repair or replacement.
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that heat disinfection means are preferable to chemical disinfection means in these systems. Chemical disinfectants presently in use include strong oxidizing agents. Residual disinfectant not adequately flushed from the system poses a hazard to patients. For example, a common chemical disinfectant, formaldehyde, has been shown to cause some repeat dialysis patients to develop antibodies to the N-antigens on the surface of their own red blood cells. The present invention facilitates the use of heat disinfection by providing materials of construction that can be operated at high temperature.
It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that, despite the use of chemical disinfectants, present systems still experience problems with bacterial contamination. Regular assay for endotoxin in the system is required. Furthermore, multiple connection points and ready access to those connections makes current systems more susceptible to deliberate tampering by unauthorized personnel.
What is needed then is a system which facilitates heat disinfection and eliminates solvent welded joints. This needed system must eliminate xe2x80x9cdead legsxe2x80x9d in the system. A xe2x80x9cdead legxe2x80x9d is generally defined as a dead end length of pipe of greater than five pipe diameters in length. This needed system must decrease equipment surface area in the dialysis clinic, facilitating disinfection. This needed system must provide replaceable components which are easily installed, repaired, and replaced, yet protected from potential tampering by unauthorized individuals. This needed system must be capable of use without being attached to real property. This needed system must use quick disconnects to permit easy placement of components. This needed system is presently lacking in the prior art.
A fluid transport system is provided for communicating a source of fluids to at least one fluid-requiring instrument. The system is particularly designed to communicate ultra-pure water and additives to a dialysis machine in a dialysis clinic.
The system includes modular ductwork which includes a plurality of removable ductwork segments defining a secondary containment chamber. A plurality of conduits are received through the ductwork for carrying fluids from the source to the fluid requiring instrument. Any fluids leaking from the conduits are caught in the secondary containment chamber.
Each conduit of the plurality of conduits may be made up of a plurality of removable interconnecting fluid conduit segments. Preferably the system includes interchangeable modules, with each module including modular ductwork made up of a plurality of ductwork segments, and with each module including a plurality of conduit segments which corresponds to the plurality of conduits. Each conduit segment has a detachable coupling on at least one end thereof.
The system may be installed either on the wall of a room, or extending into the interior area of a room. Those portions of the system extending into the interior of a room are supported on columns which preferably include lockable casters to provide mobility of the support columns within the room.
At various locations throughout the system stations are provided for connection of the system to a dialysis machine. Each connecting station preferably includes a first manifold block to which the conduits are directly connected, and a second manifold block which is connected to the first manifold block by a plurality of quick connect couplings. The second manifold block further carries a second plurality of quick connect couplings which are specifically designed for connection to a particular brand and model of dialysis treatment machine. The dialysis treatment machines may be quickly changed by disconnecting the second manifold block from the first manifold block, and replacing the second manifold block with another manifold block having quick connect couplings specifically associated with another type of dialysis machine.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a portable system for transporting fluids from a source of purified water to individual dialysis machines in a dialysis clinic.
Another purpose of the present invention is the provision of a modular fluid transport system for communicating a source of fluids to at least one fluid-requiring instrument.
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of modular fluid transport systems for dialysis clinics, wherein the system is made up of a plurality of interchangeable modules.
And another object of the present invention is the provision of a modular fluid transport system which can be heat sterilized.
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a fluid transport system having quick connect stations for connection of a dialysis machine or other fluid-requiring instrument.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a quick connect station for a fluid transport system, wherein the instrument to be connected to the station can be disconnected and replaced without interfering with the flow of fluid through the system.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of methods of installing a fluid transport system for a dialysis clinic.
Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading of the following disclosure when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.